Helias squeezes in enough practices to meet standard

Helias squeezes in enough practices to meet standard

The Helias girls tennis team is ready to start the season today, and the toughest part of the preseason wasn't settling on a lineup. Nor was it preparing for the first opponent.

No, the toughest thing for the Lady Crusaders was making sure nobody missed practice.

Thanks to a change by the Missouri State High School Activities Association, the number of mandatory practices for fall athletes before they can compete in a game rose from 10 to 14 this year. That meant that if players wanted to compete in a match today, the first allowable date for competition, they couldn't miss a single practice in order to qualify.